DUSHANBE, June 19, Asia-Plus — The Supreme Court has completed consideration of criminal proceedings instituted against three activists of the religious extremism organization, the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), and handed down prison sentences ranging between 18 and 22 years for them.
The Supreme Court on June 18 ruled that IJU activists Abdurahim Abdulloyev, Zayniddin Nasruddinov and Olim Buzurukov be given jail terms of 18 years, 19 years and 22 years respectively and that they should serve them in a high-security penal colony.
According to the public relations center of the State Committee for National Security (GKNB), the convicted actively participated in fighting in Afghanistan on the part of the Taliban Movement in the late 1990s and early 2000s and committed a number of grave crimes.
The Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), also known as Islamic Jihad Group (IJG), is a terrorist organization which splintered from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) in 2002, and has conducted several attacks in Uzbekistan.
According to GKNB, the main goal of the IJU is to destabilize the social and political situation in the Central Asian region for creating theocratic state.
